GunBugBit Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 There are plenty of people trying USPSA. I see no need or reason to evangelize people for joining. I selfishly don't really want more people piling on. That's just me. Not to say I don't warmly welcome new competitors who seem genuinely enthusiastic. A couple of those have become core club members and good shooting buddies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elguapo Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 12/31/2016 at 10:13 PM, Shmella said: I will say it is very intimidating and I can see how it is amost impossible to get into it without having known someone who is into shooting competitively. That depends entirely on someone's personality. I didn't need to know anyone to get interested in action shooting sports. I read about it, saw it done, then said to myself that I was going to do it so I did it. The world is full of resources for the resourceful and self-motivated. Example: 90% of the rule related questions in any internet shooting sports forum are unnecessary with a careful reading of the rulebook. The other 10% are legit where the rulebook is truly unclear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJH Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 34 minutes ago, elguapo said: That depends entirely on someone's personality. I didn't need to know anyone to get interested in action shooting sports. I read about it, saw it done, then said to myself that I was going to do it so I did it. The world is full of resources for the resourceful and self-motivated. Example: 90% of the rule related questions in any internet shooting sports forum are unnecessary with a careful reading of the rulebook. The other 10% are legit where the rulebook is truly unclear. This has a plethora of truth in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billthemarine2862 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 I think this is a very interesting topic. I have several friends that love to go to the range when I am not at a match. I have had decent luck getting them to come out to steel challenge matches. The lack of movement and minimal gear requirements really help a lot. I have yet to get a single one of them out to a USPSA match though. For whatever reason the idea of having to possibly shoot weak hand or shoot from a funky position seems to worry them. They don't want to look bad in front of others also. I would tell them that I am still fairly new at USPSA and am in no way a competitor to win, more of a participant I always say, and it is all about having fun and just getting better at shooting. Honestly it really doesn't bother me anymore. I know plenty of people at every USPSA match I attend now and while my friends all know the offer always stands I don't even bother to ask them if they want to come to USPSA matches anymore. Besides, USPSA matches are ready very well attended where I shoot and while it is selfish on my part I like to get home as early as possible for my wife and kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattmann Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 I shoot 3 gun and steel challenge mainly. Tomorrow I’m shooting steel with both brothers and a friend. All 3 of these people would NEVER shoot 3 gun with me. I’ve tried a million times. I’ve offered all my gear and even my Ammo and got told now way. Working on shooting idpa or something else now....I think it’s “too much effort” if you don’t have self motivation to try. No one talked me into it. I showed up and shot idpa and got invited to 3 gun. Did It once extremely under gunned and got hooked. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelRiose Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 On 2/22/2019 at 4:05 PM, GunBugBit said: There are plenty of people trying USPSA. I see no need or reason to evangelize people for joining. I selfishly don't really want more people piling on. That's just me. Not to say I don't warmly welcome new competitors who seem genuinely enthusiastic. A couple of those have become core club members and good shooting buddies. I disagree! The more people that join, the more desire to get new clubs and matches started. I live in a gun-friendly state in the South and still have to drive over an hour 3/4 weekends a month to get to a game. And that puts me in a very fortunate segment of the population that has a match available every weekend. I do agree with a lot of the earlier comments about personality type. The Venn diagram segment of people who enjoy competition and challenge, like guns, have enough time and money to commit, and haven't already got too many other hobbies is an unfortunately small one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elguapo Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 America is not a nation of riflemen or pistoleros any more. America is nation of people who own lots of guns and mostly can't shoot for s#!t (but think they can). The percentage of gun owners who actually know how to shoot is really small and majority of that small percentage comes from practical shooting sports. It will never change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AverageJoeShooting Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 personally i am looking forward to my first match ive been shooting 3 gun forever and the once or twice a month matches couldnt quite scratch my itch for shooting so now im going to shoot uspsa as well so i can shoot 3 or 4 weekends a month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelRiose Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 42 minutes ago, elguapo said: America is not a nation of riflemen or pistoleros any more. America is nation of people who own lots of guns and mostly can't shoot for s#!t (but think they can). The percentage of gun owners who actually know how to shoot is really small and majority of that small percentage comes from practical shooting sports. It will never change. Agreed on the first point. The total percentage of Americans with real firearms experience (hunting, competition, mil, or LEO) has probably gone down. But practical shooting is not the only route to firearms competency. You'll find fantastic shooters on skeet fields and in duck blinds as well. While they may have different skillsets, they are just as much "shooters." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elguapo Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 1 hour ago, BelRiose said: Agreed on the first point. The total percentage of Americans with real firearms experience (hunting, competition, mil, or LEO) has probably gone down. But practical shooting is not the only route to firearms competency. You'll find fantastic shooters on skeet fields and in duck blinds as well. While they may have different skillsets, they are just as much "shooters." I meant competency with a firearm in a martial arts sense. Hunting and clay shooting don't qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelRiose Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 In that case, yes. Practical shooting has the most relationship to shooting as a martial skill. It's obviously not an identical skillset, but it's similar. That said, I think shooting as a martial skill has always been confined to a small portion of the population (mil, leo, and maybe some outlaws), and even then I can attest from personal experience that just being in the military, even in an infantry or SOF role, does not mean that one is a competent firearms user in the sense that we're discussing here. I'm not sure that we've ever been a nation of "rifleman and pistoleros," by that definition. On that note, my biggest surprise with regards to recruiting new shooters is how hard it is to get folks in the military to come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawaiifivebro Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Haven't shot my first match yet, started looking into it over the winter and hopefully here in a month I'll have the time off of work. Coming from a "new guy" perspective, there isn't much advertising for it, ranges/matches that cater to this are hard to come by, blah blah blah. If there was an easy way for anyone to find stuff it'd probably be different, I've gotten 3 people who are also new to it looking to come play as well. Just gotta make it ridiculously easy to find for those who don't want to put in the extra little effort, people are lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elguapo Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 (edited) 21 hours ago, BelRiose said: I'm not sure that we've ever been a nation of "rifleman and pistoleros," I agree, I think that's more myth than reality 21 hours ago, BelRiose said: my biggest surprise with regards to recruiting new shooters is how hard it is to get folks in the military to come out I'm not surprised. Trigger pullers are a minuscule percentage of the military as a whole, and an infinitesimally small percentage of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. I served in the Navy for 10 years (combination of service academy and active duty). Out of those ten years I think my total time involved in firearms training was less than 5 days. Edited March 18, 2019 by elguapo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyd Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 2 hours ago, elguapo said: I agree, I think that's more myth than reality I'm not surprised. Trigger pullers are a minuscule percentage of the military as a whole, and an infinitesimally small percentage of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. I served in the Navy for 10 years (combination of service academy and active duty). Out of those ten years I think my total time involved in firearms training was less than 5 days. In the Navy in my twenty years went to the range about 5 times. We would put people on watch with a 1911 that had never shot. Also look up the history of the CMP and why we needed it. We are a nation of Sock Drawer Guns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 (edited) On 3/17/2019 at 6:54 AM, BelRiose said: I disagree! The more people that join, the more desire to get new clubs and matches started. I live in a gun-friendly state in the South and still have to drive over an hour 3/4 weekends a month to get to a game. And that puts me in a very fortunate segment of the population that has a match available every weekend. Great, if you are good with matches getting more and more crowded. It's definitely taking a lot of the appeal away from how it was when I started not that many years ago. I do not greatly enjoy the Phoenix sun beating down on me for 45 minutes between my turns to shoot each stage. Edited March 18, 2019 by GunBugBit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elguapo Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 (edited) 34 minutes ago, dannyd said: We would put people on watch with a 1911 that had never shot. And no ammo, so it didn't really matter if the petty officer of the watch knew how to shoot or if the pistol even worked. The average joe on the street thinks everyone who wears a military or police uniform is some kind of steely eyed sharpshooter......LOL if they only knew. Edited March 18, 2019 by elguapo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 And it gets worse year by year. I remember when I was in Grade School in Merriam, Kansas we would tie our .22 rifles to the handlebars on our bikes and ride out of town a few miles and shoot our rifles. Doubt you could do the same nowdays without being stopped in a block or so. In the old days most farm kids learned to shoot to put food on the table, now there aren't that many farm kids. There just aren't that many opportunities near any big city to learn, most places even outlaw BB guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunBugBit Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Thinking about it from a less self-centered point of view, growth in the shooting sports is a very good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyd Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 2 hours ago, elguapo said: And no ammo, so it didn't really matter if the petty officer of the watch knew how to shoot or if the pistol even worked. The average joe on the street thinks everyone who wears a military or police uniform is some kind of steely eyed sharpshooter......LOL if they only knew. Unfortunately they had ammo, so to help not get anyone hurt I would take a person or two to the gun range every weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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